Brazilian President stands up for Cruzeiro’s Tinga after racist abuse in Peru

On Thursday Dilma Rousseff used her Twitter page to blast racism in football after Peruvian fans targeted Cruzeiro's Tinga during his team’s 2-1 defeat in the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday.

Real Garcilaso fans directed monkey chants at the 36-year-old midfielder, who had four years with Borussia Dortmund in Germany and an earlier spell in Japan with Kawasaki Frontale.

"The racism against Cruzeiro's Tinga in yesterday's game in Peru was lamentable," wrote the President.

She also stressed that this year’s World Cup would "also be the Cup Against Racism."

Tinga said afterwards he would happily swap his career medals to win the fight against prejudice.

"I played in Germany for several years and sometimes encountered hostility. But I never experienced anything like this. To start with I thought it was normal chanting but then I realised it was racism."

Following the game, Cruzeiro's director of football Alexandre Mattos said the club would be taking up the matter with the South American football confederation, CONMEBOL.